2023-09-21 9:33:14 ¶ ●

Actually my favourite Hannibal episode is “Su-zakana.” The horse episode?? The horse episode! We leave off previously on Will sending Matthew to murder Hannibal. Hannibal survives the attempt and now Will has to live with himself as this person who chose “killing” as an option while completely sober. Then he is in Hannibal’s office, planning to trap him, and to trap Hannibal he has to be somewhat honest so in-between his lies he’s forced to slip in confessions – like fantasizing about killing Hannibal with his bare hands and enjoying doing it. But not even that, my favourite ever moment is when Will tells Hannibal not to lie to him. It’s not a request– it’s a demand. He says “Don’t lie to me” to Hannibal as though Hannibal owes him this. (He doesn’t. Hannibal doesn’t owe anybody anything.) But Hannibal is so charmed and taken by Will, taken by Will demanding something from him because it indicates intimacy. I mean, you won’t make demands from strangers like it’s your birth right. You make demands from your parents, your best friends, your lover. You make demands from a god who betrayed you, wanting to forgive him. So Hannibal acquiesces. He asks, “Will you return the favour?” And Will doesn’t confirm, even so, Hannibal gives it to him, he gifts Will his honesty and stops lying to him from then on – even when Will betrays him. Hannibal doesn’t break his promises. It’s all so, it’s so erotic. For someone like Hannibal to give anyone anything when it’s demanded from him. It was the first interaction between them that left me breathless.